Florida trip will be respite for boy with spina bifida

When Kumaka Jensen turns 6 on Dec. 20, he'll have the party of a lifetime – six days in Florida with his family visiting Walt Disney World, Universal's Islands of Adventure and Sea World.

The all-expenses-paid trip comes compliments of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which reaches out to children with life-threatening medical conditions. Kumaka, the son of Tracy and Stu Jensen of Fountain Valley, was born with spina bifida, clubfeet and hydrocephalus.

Spina bifida is a birth defect that involves the incomplete development of the spinal cord or its coverings. Kumaka lives his life in a wheelchair.

On Sunday, Make-A-Wish held a party for the Jensen family, relatives and close friends to announce the details of Kumaka's wish. Kumaka was given the opportunity to have the party at the restaurant of his choice and it was an easy choice – Lamppost Pizza, just a few blocks from the Jensen home.

"He goes to Lamppost every time his brothers have a game," Tracy Jensen said. "My son Kalani plays basketball through the Boys & Girls Club and through the recreation department, and my husband coaches. We always have pizza parties at Lamppost."

His favorite pizza?

"Cheesey," Kumaka said without hesitation.

The Make-A-Wish trip will be much appreciated after a trying past year in which Kumaka underwent a 12-hour bilateral hip surgery in February, followed by a hip-to-toes cast, called a spica cast. When the cast was removed in May, he broke his femur in half and was placed back in a spica cast for two months more.

"When he came out of that cast, the bone did not heal properly, so in September, he had a repair on the femur as well as an ankle repair on the other side," Tracy said. "After two months, they went in and took the pins out. Unfortunately, when he got out of that cast, he broke his tibia and one of the plates and screws in his hip also broke."

So the day after Thanksgiving the plate was replaced and a new cast was put on.

But on Dec. 16, a limousine will pull up to the Jensen home, pick up Stu and Tracy and their five sons and take them to John Wayne Airport for their trip to Orlando.

"This is the only time we've ever taken all the children someplace on a plane," Tracy said. "They're giving us a rental van for the week and we'll stay at Give Kids the World, which is affiliated with Make-A-Wish. Everything is handicap-accessible, the food is free, there's miniature golf and ice cream all night," Tracy said. "It's just crazy."

"Kumaka is super excited to go," Tracy added. "In his mind, it's not only a wish but it's the best party ever."